Unprotected wildlife habitats located near expanding
residential or industrial centers are subject to rapid
and permanent destruction. Especially in developing
countries, unique habitats near growing cities may
be destroyed before they are properly surveyed and
measures implemented for their protection. One case
in point is the city of Istanbul, whose population has
grown from about 800,000 in 1927 to 10 million in
2000 (Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, 2005). Prior
to the 20th century, the then much smaller city of
Istanbul was surrounded by villages separated from
each other by more or less degraded, but nevertheless
uninhabited and undeveloped land that included
agricultural fields and orchards (Anonymous, 1844).
Such areas must have provided habitats for at least
some of the native wildlife. However, since the beginning
of the 20th century, the rapidly expanding
Istanbul has absorbed most of the villages, turning
them into districts within the city and, in the process,
has all but decimated the wildlife habitats.